Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Hawk didn’t know how it happened. One minute he was sitting in Lincoln’s kitchen while Lucky toured the house and she figured out a bid for weekly housekeeping services, and the next…his parents showed up to meet Lucky.
Lincoln had to have texted them that she was here. He was always trying to score points with Mom, so she’d drop off a casserole or pot of chili for him.
Hawk hoped he choked on it for surprising Lucky like this. Not really. He loved his brother. But he’d wanted to prepare Lucky, not ambush her.
After what she’d been through, he couldn’t fault her for her caution around new people, even if they’d figured out that Desiree was responsible for all of her heartache and pain.
He had no idea how she handled it so well, being betrayed by the person closest to her.
If one of his brothers betrayed him like that, he’d be devastated.
He wouldn’t trust anyone ever again. Because if the person who was supposed to be the one person you could count on hurt you like that… how could you ever trust anyone.
But Lucky trusted him. Right?
He’d just have to keep on proving himself to her. He had no intention of ever letting her down, let alone hurting her. She was quickly becoming his whole world.
He wanted forever.
He needed to come up with a plan to make her his.
First, they needed Desiree behind bars where she belonged.
They were going to need some help with that because local law enforcement couldn’t be trusted—and he knew the perfect person, besides Jase. Someone who could take down everyone who’d betrayed Lucky.
He'd have to invite his cousin for dinner. Soon. Because he didn’t want Desiree to have another chance to hurt Lucky.
Hawk tuned back into the impromptu introductions going on in front of him.
“We’re so pleased to finally meet you.” His mom looked over Lucky’s shoulder at him and winked.
Lucky looked a little shell-shocked to find his parents waiting for her when she came downstairs with Lincoln on her tail. As usual, she stepped back, giving herself some space. “It’s lovely to meet you, too. Uh, Hawk talks about you a lot.”
He hoped Lincoln had warned his parents about Lucky’s aversion to being touched. Though she seemed to handle it with him and Lincoln. Mason had kept his affection short and sweet when he’d kissed her forehead during his visit, and it helped that Hawk had warned her it was coming.
His mom, Donna, beamed, looking very much like she was already planning a wedding in her head. “Really? I can barely get two words out of him most of the time.”
“Mom.” He gave her a look she read all too easily.
She put her hand to his cheek. “I’m just saying that you’re the strong, silent type.”
Lucky tipped her head to the side. “Really? We’ve had some really great long talks.”
“Then you must be magic,” his dad said, extending his hand to her.
Lucky only hesitated for a second before she shook it. “I think Hawk’s got some kind of magic. He found me in the middle of nowhere.”
Mac put his free hand over their joined ones. “And wasn’t that lucky for both your sakes.” His dad released Lucky and shared a look with him.
Hawk had confided in his dad about Lucky and the pseudo relationship they’d formed over the last two years.
His father hadn’t pushed him to turn it into something more formal and intimate.
Instead, he’d encouraged Hawk to take his time to get to know her, to go at his own pace while he healed and focused on himself, so he’d be a better version of himself for her, too.
He told Hawk if it was meant to be, she’d still be waiting for him when he was ready.
He’d needed that time to get his head on straight and figure out if he still had enough of the pieces of his heart to share with someone else.
He hadn’t been hurt by others, more like his heart had taken a beating watching so many atrocities play out.
It made him wonder if there was anything good left in the world where he’d somehow survived as he watched others perish.
And the answer seemed so easy when he’d come home to find a note, a book, a meal, whatever it was she left behind in his home, something that made him feel like someone cared. Something that made him want to smile and believe in good things again.
Little by little, she’d helped him rebuild his heart, and begin to want something more than surviving.
And now, seeing her chatting with his parents about the ranch they’d built and she’d barely gotten a glimpse of, he saw it. She fit. Him. His family.
She was everything he wanted and more.
And if she needed to hold his hand while she opened her sweet heart to his parents, well, that just meant they were a team, supporting each other.
“How are you healing?” Donna asked. “You’re so beautiful, I’d never guess you’re still recovering from your injuries.”
Lucky immediately covered the worst scars on her arm with her hand, her teeth digging into her bottom lip. “Um. All the stitches are out. My ankle and knee are better, so long as I don’t overdo it. Otherwise, it’s just the mental stuff. You know.”
He slipped his arm around her back, planted his hand on her hip, and pulled her into his side, kissing her on the head.
Her wild mane clung to the scruff on his jaw.
He brushed it away, tucking the long golden strands behind her ear.
“You’re tough, sweetheart. You’ve been dealt a heavy blow.
But you’re stronger every day, and I know you’re going to handle Desiree like a champ. ”
Her gorgeous green gaze met his. “I won’t let her get away with everything. Not anymore.”
His dad narrowed his gaze and stepped closer to them.
Hawk felt Lucky check the impulse to step back. He rubbed his hand over her hip, reminding her he was right there. She was safe.
Mac caught her instinctive reaction but didn’t comment on it. “Who is Desiree? I thought it was your ex who hurt you.”
Hawk tried not to let his anger show, but it came out in his voice anyway.
“We believe it was all a setup for him to take the fall.
In reality, it looks like her best friend Desiree has been messing with Lucky for years.
It all seems to come down to Desiree wanting Lucky to depend on her, and only her.
“Desiree had an affair with Lucky’s ex and we believe they share a child. Desiree’s daughter Krystal is the right age, and Desiree found out she was pregnant only a couple months after Neil went to prison. Desiree also tried to come on to me. I shut that down immediately.”
“Of course you did,” his mother defended him.
“You’re a good man. You’d never do something like that.
None of my boys would, or I’d have something to say about it.
” She’d taught them all to respect women and relationships.
To always tell the truth, even if it meant hurting someone’s feelings.
Better to break up than hurt someone worse by betraying their trust.
Lucky kissed his cheek. “Desiree knows a good thing when she sees it.”
“I thought she was into me,” Lincoln complained.
“You dodged a bullet there, brother.” Hawk nuzzled his nose into Lucky’s sweet-smelling hair. What was that? Strawberries and flowers? Whatever it was, he was addicted. “Anyway. Desiree is going to get what’s coming to her. I’m just sorry it will come at her daughter’s expense.”
Lucky turned into him, seeking even more comfort. “Desiree killed her mother. I don’t want to give her a chance to turn on her own child.”
Hawk couldn’t believe what he’d heard. “What? She killed her mom? How do you know that?”
“I started putting all these pieces together during my talk with Bob. If she could do all those things to me, what else was she capable of? She framed the father of her child, not once, but twice to keep suspicion off of her. It made me think that maybe all of this was because she’d lost her mother.
But then I thought about my relationship with her and the one that she has with her father.
We enabled her by always trying to see the best in her.
Her mother was the one who disciplined her, pushed her, and apparently compared her to me. ”
“I bet that didn’t go over well,” Lincoln chimed in.
“No. And it ended in Desiree driving her right into a tree.” Lucky pressed her palm over her heart, rubbing hard.
“She soaked up the sympathy like she couldn’t get enough.
She loved the attention. She’d bring up her mother’s death around others so everyone was paying attention to her.
I didn’t see it that way back then, but now… ”
“Now that you know what she’s capable of, the past looks different.”
“I really thought we were friends. I thought she cared about me. After my family was gone, she was there, hugging me, encouraging me to live the life I wanted now. All the while, she’d taken the one person I loved more than anything away from me.
Why Danny? He was just a little boy. He’d never done anything to her. To anyone.”
He wrapped her in a tight hug. “I don’t know, sweetheart, but we are going to get that answer from her. Soon. She won’t get away with it.”
Lucky wiped the tears from her cheeks and looked up at him. “Sorry. This is not how I intended meeting your parents would go.”
His mom stepped up and put her hand on Lucky’s shoulder. “You’ve been through a lot, dear. We know that. And we’re family. You don’t have to be anything but yourself with us.”
Tears gathered in her eyes again as she stared up at Hawk. “Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever had that.”
“You do now.” He kissed her, right there in the foyer with his family looking on.
“Hey,” Lincoln grumbled, “I have a bet to win.”
That got his attention. He reluctantly broke the kiss, not just because of what Lincoln said, but also because he didn’t want his family watching him with Lucky. He’d show her how much she belonged with him later tonight. “What bet?”
Lucky found her smile again. “He bet that I couldn’t make a meal out of whatever he’s got in his kitchen.”
“The cupboards are bare. Mostly.” Lincoln rubbed his hands together. “I’m so winning this bet.”
Hawk knew for a fact that Lucky could make something edible out of just about anything. And he knew that look in his brother’s eyes. Even if he lost to Lucky, which he would, he’d still win because he’d be eating something good tonight.
His mom got in on the fun. “Let’s go see what’s in the kitchen.”
An hour later, he was having a family dinner with Lucky.
She’d turned a package of boneless chicken thighs, leftover rice from Chinese takeout that Lincoln had hardly touched, a bag of frozen broccoli, a can of condensed cream of chicken soup, and a jar of nacho cheese sauce into a cheesy chicken divan casserole.
It was delicious, even if Lucky insisted real cheddar cheese would have been better.
Lincoln lost the bet and paid up by making her a pitcher of peach sangria, which she shared with everyone.
Even better was the way his mom, dad, and Lincoln spent the whole dinner asking about Lucky’s life and sharing stories about him. He didn’t mind that most were embarrassing. He just loved having her sitting next to him, her hand in his on top of the table for all of them to see.
He was so damn happy. Happier than he could ever remember.
When his parents headed for the front door, they turned back and gave him a look, one he hadn’t seen in a long time.
They were proud of him. They were happy for him.
All the worry they’d carried since he joined the military and came home a broken man had disappeared, leaving only the joy of seeing their son finally content.
Lucky had given him that moment. She made all the difference.
He was finally settled. Safe. Home. Maybe not whole, but as close as he’d get.
All he had to do was hold on to Lucky and keep her safe.